Heliogabalus roses. Heliogabalus: the most depraved Roman emperor The reign of the 14-year-old Heliogabalus in Rome

15.12.2023

Caracalla's mother, Julia Domna, was exiled to Antioch by Macrinus, and she committed suicide there. But she had a sister, Julia Mesa, who had two widowed daughters, Soemia and Mameya. The son of Soemia was Variy Avit Bassian, a boy of about 13 years old. Despite his young age, he already held the rank of high priest in the temple of Heliogabalus (Elagabalus), the Syrian sun god, in the Syrian city of Emesa. Not far from Emesa there was then a Roman army, which at the end of the reign of Caracalla set out on a campaign against the Parthians. The soldiers came to the Temple of the Sun, saw the young high priest there, admired his beauty, magnificent attire and resemblance to his murdered uncle, Caracalla.

The resourceful and ambitious Julia Mesa ordered the rumor to be spread that Bassian was the bastard son of Caracalla, who was allegedly in a relationship with his cousin, Soemia. Having inherited the enormous wealth of her sister, Julia Domna, Mesa began to generously distribute money to the legionnaires. The army loyal to the Severan dynasty on May 16, 218 AD. e. proclaimed Bassian emperor.

The frightened Emperor Macrinus began to offer large gifts to the soldiers if only they would leave Bassian. But all the legions stationed in Syria went over to the side of the priest Heliogabalus. However, his praetorians remained loyal to Macrinus. Near the Syrian capital, Antioch, a battle took place between them and the rest of the army. The small Praetorians fought so bravely that they almost won, but at the decisive moment, when luck began to waver, their leader Macrinus cowardly fled from the battlefield. After waiting for the day of his return, the Praetorians surrendered on honorable terms. Macrinus was captured and killed a few days later by order of the new emperor Bassian, who, in honor of his Syrian god, took the throne name Heliogabalus (Elagabalus).

The young man Heliogabalus (ruled 218-222) combined Syrian and Roman vices in his habits. He astonished the empire by playing together the role of a priest and the role of a woman in orgies of vile debauchery. In the letter with which Heliogabalus informed the Senate of his accession to the throne, he said that he would follow the examples of Marcus Aurelius and Augustus, but with his actions he was not slow to show that these promises were empty words. He went to Italy, but stopped for the winter in Nicomedia. Both on the way and in Nicomedia, Emperor Heliogabalus spent his time in feasts, debauchery, and priestly trickery; His grandmother Mesa and her daughters ran the affairs. Heliogabalus did nothing but debauchery. He appeared to his subjects in no other way than in wide, flowing priestly vestments, made of silk fabric with gold patterns, wearing a high tiara on his head, a necklace on his neck, bracelets on his hands, having whitened himself and rouged himself. In this outfit he was depicted in a statue that was placed in the Roman Senate above the image of the Goddess of Victory, and the senators were supposed to worship this statue.

Roses of Heliogabalus. A painting based on the legend that Heliogabalus ordered so many roses to be poured on the participants of his feasts that they suffocated from their smell. Artist L. Alma-Tadema, 1888

The next year (219) Heliogabalus came to Rome with the statue of his god, to whom he gave first place among all the gods, and desecrated himself with all sorts of abominations and nonsense that the corrupt imagination of a reckless, depraved fifteen-year-old youth, brought up in Syrian effeminacy and maddened by his omnipotence. His god, whose glorification the Semitic emperor considered the most important task of his life, was a black stone, shaped like a cone and decorated with a frame of precious stones. Heliogabalus wanted the entire empire to accept the cult of this god, for which he built a magnificent temple with many altars on the Palatine Hill. There, among the most sacred historical monuments of Rome, a noisy service to the Asian idol was performed: masses of incense were smoked. With the wild roar of an oriental orchestra, Syrian women performed voluptuous dances, and Roman senators and other noble Romans in oriental vestments served at sacrifices.

Heliogabalus merged different religions into one, arranging the marriage of his Sun god with the Heavenly Virgin, the goddess of Carthage, and at the same time celebrated his marriage with one of the Vestals, who was forcibly brought to this mystical marriage. This absurd profanation of pagan worship, of course, outraged believers and undermined respect for religion among the masses of the people.

It would be indecent to go into a description of the stupidities and abominations of the Syrian libertine Heliogabalus. All the symbolic stories of eastern myths about hermaphroditic deities were carried out in practice by this extravagant scoundrel: the young emperor played either the role of a god or the role of a goddess in the orgies of his debauchery, trampling in his debauchery all the laws of nature and the rules of decency. Heliogabalus was also crazy about his food: in winter he liked only what grows in summer, and in summer what constitutes winter food, and only what was brought from distant countries. Voluptuousness, despotism, profanation of pagan religion reached the most disgusting proportions in the life of Emperor Heliogabalus. Along with debauchery and buffoonery there were executions of rich and influential people who seemed suspicious to him; voluptuous service to Baal was combined with bloody rites of extravagant sacraments, during which fortune telling was performed using the entrails of sacrificed people. Insane extravagance forced the ferocious libertine emperor to mint coins of lower and lower standard and reduce its weight. The deterioration of the coin began under Caracalla, and Heliogabalus introduced it to such an extent that state credit fell and the empire was threatened with bankruptcy.

Coin (aureus) of Emperor Heliogabalus (Elagabalus). On the right is an image of the god of the Invincible Sun that he worshiped.

The emperor's grandmother, Julia Mesa, who, with the assistance of her daughters, ruled the state, saw that her dissolute grandson was preparing his own destruction with his abominations, and decided to depose him in order to maintain imperial power in her family. She wanted to replace him with her other grandson Alexander Severus, the son of her other daughter, Julia Mamea. Taking advantage of Heliogabalus's moment of affection, Mesa persuaded him to give Alexander the dignity of Caesar so that his “divine pursuits would not be interrupted by earthly concerns,” as she explained to him. Heliogabalus soon repented when he saw that Alexander, who was well raised by his mother and constantly acted under her leadership, acquired the love of the Senate and the Praetorians. He found that he needed to kill Alexander, and took the title of Caesar from him in order to prepare the murder. But the Senate listened to the news of Alexander’s deprivation of dignity in silence, did not express approval, and the Praetorians raised a terrible murmur at this news.

Coin of Heliogabalus (denarius)

Heliogabalus restored Alexander's dignity and attempted to kill him. The attempt failed because Julia Mameya carefully monitored the safety of her son. But a rumor spread in the praetorian camp that Alexander had been killed. The warriors became so alarmed that Heliogabalus found it necessary to go to them, taking his cousin with him. They greeted the emperor with a murmur, and Alexander with cries of joy; Angry at such a meeting, Heliogabalus decided to punish the soldiers, especially those who made noise. This untimely severity infuriated the Praetorians, most of whom had already been attracted to Alexander's side by Mesa and Mamaea. They rebelled, easily defeated the followers of Heliogabalus, killed him (March 10, 222) and his mother, Soemia. The soldiers dragged the mutilated body of Heliogabalus through the streets of Rome and threw it into the Tiber. The Senate decreed that the memory of this emperor be consigned to eternal disgrace.

EMPEROR HELIOGABALUS

"Let no one know that he was a Roman sovereign"

Aelius Lampridius "Antoninus Heliogabalus"

And now we will move on to the Roman Emperor Heliogabalus, who himself, being a duplicate of traditional history, had his own double - the Emperor Nero, already known to us. The name of this Roman emperor, who reigned from 218 to 222, is almost unknown to anyone. Not everyone can gain such popularity among history buffs as Julius Caesar, Caligula or Nero. There were many gray, nondescript personalities on the Roman throne; descriptions of their reign are indeed boring and uninteresting, but Heliogabalus, a personality no less bright than Nero, is not one of them. But everyone knows about Nero, almost no one knows about Heliogabalus. Why? Maybe because this emperor is perhaps the weakest and most vulnerable link in the traditional chronology of Ancient Rome.

This Roman emperor had several names. At first he was called Avitus Varius Bassianus, then he became Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. Heliogabalus is just his nickname, and even then in the Greek way. In reality his name was Elagabalus. However, these are only his official names that have survived to this day. It is enough to quote from Lampridius: “After his death, he was called Tiberin, Dragged, Dirty and many other names - depending on what event they wanted to celebrate that happened during his time.” But these are only the names given to him in Rome, but there were, without a doubt, other names by which Heliogabalus was called in the provinces. In fact, different names are in different languages that were in circulation in the Roman Empire. For example, in Egypt, I think his name would also sound completely different. Somehow in the spirit of the names of the pharaohs, many of whom were actually Roman emperors (just not the traditional version of Rome), whose remains were brought to the main world cemetery for burial in the pyramids.

However, it is unlikely that Heliogabalus received the honor of being buried in one of the Egyptian pyramids. And why - you will now find out.

The future Roman emperor was born in 204 into the noble Syrian family of Varius (i.e. Varius is a family name, but in Lampridius we read: “Some say that the very name Varius was given to him by his schoolmates for the reason that he was born of a harlot , he was apparently conceived from the seed of different fathers"). All his ancestors in the male line were priests of the god Baal (Ela-Gabala). On his mother's side, he was somewhat related to the Roman emperors: his grandmother was the sister of the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus, that is, the aunt of Emperor Caracalla. However, there were rumors that the mother of the future emperor was the mistress of Caracalla (Septimius Bassian Caracalla, aka Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), and Heliogabalus (hereinafter we will also call him Varius) was born from this relationship. By the way, she also had a lot of names: TV calls her Julia Soemia Bassiana Augusta, and for some reason Lampridius calls her only Simiamira. As you can see, indeed, Roman characters had not just many names, but a lot.

In 217, Caracalla was killed and Macrinus became emperor. Varius at that time was only 13 years old, he was considered one of the most beautiful young men, and, moreover, as the eldest in the family, he was already a priest of Baal. Julia Mesa, Varia's grandmother (Lampridius calls her Varia), together with all her relatives, by order of the new emperor, returned to her homeland, to her Syrian estate.

Not far from it was the Third Gallic Legion, from which Emperor Macrinus did not enjoy respect, but the Roman soldiers remembered the old Emperor Caracalla with regret. Rumors, which were probably spread by his grandmother and mother, a cruel and vicious woman, called Varius the son of Caracalla.

The historian of that time Herodian (but this, of course, is on TV. We will pay attention to the curious name of this historian, so similar to the name of another historian Herodotus. But Herodotus, according to the chronology of TV, could not have written about Heliogabalus, since he lived for seven hundred years before that. That's why TV appeared...historian Herodian) described a portrait of the future emperor. “He was in his prime and the most handsome of the young men of his time. Due to the fact that he combined physical beauty, flourishing age, and luxurious clothes, one could compare the young man with beautiful images of Dionysus. When he performed sacred acts and danced at the altars, according to the custom of the barbarians, to the sounds of flutes and pipes and the accompaniment of various instruments, other people looked at him with more than ordinary curiosity, and most of all the soldiers, who knew that he was of royal family, and besides his attractiveness attracted the eyes of everyone... And so the warriors, often visiting the city, entered the temple to worship and looked at the young man with pleasure.”

Bust of Heliogabalus from the Capitoline Museum in Rome, photo Giovanni Dall "Orto

Soon the Gallic legion proclaimed Varius emperor. The Roman Emperor Macrinus personally led the legions against the rebels, but was defeated, fled and was soon killed. Entering Rome, the young emperor called himself Elagabalus (the Greeks changed it to Heliogabalus) and ordered that any sacrifice should be accompanied by a prayer to the new god Elagabalus.

Having rouged his cheeks and made up his eyes, every morning the young emperor made sacrifices to his god, including human ones, “choosing for this throughout Italy noble and beautiful boys whose father and mother were alive,” while he “examined the insides of the children and tortured sacrificial animals according to the rites of his tribe.” All this happened in front of a crowd of people, including senators and horsemen. He forced many of them to participate in his orgies. His promiscuity knew no bounds: “He had only one occupation: he had messengers with him, who looked for people with large genitals for him and brought them to his palace so that he could enjoy communication with them.” Subsequently, he made these lovers consuls, governors and military leaders, “many whose bodies he liked, he transferred from the stage, from the circus and from the arena to the palace.”

He publicly kissed his favorite Hierocles on the groin. The young priest-debaucher loved to appear naked in a chariot, which was driven by the same naked harlots, when there were crowds of people. At feasts, everyone was obliged to engage in copulation after each change of dishes. And, as a natural ending, Heliogabalus married (as a woman) his lover Zotik, who had a very large manhood. Quarrels often occurred between the “spouses,” and the jealous “spouse” often beat Heliogabalus. The young emperor was so accustomed to the appearance of a woman that he even wanted to castrate himself (this is another evidence that among the Semites, circumcision became a symbolic replacement for the initial castration), but he limited himself to circumcision, but he always danced in honor of his god in a female form.

Heliogabalus had a twelve-year-old cousin whom he adopted under the name of Alexander. However, he soon repented of this, as the latter began to be popular with legionnaires. While trying to kill Alexander, the soldiers attacked Heliogabalus, killing him. The body of the hapless emperor, allowed to be dragged and dishonored by anyone who wanted it, was dragged through the city with hooks and thrown into the sewage waters flowing into the Tiber. That is why the ashes of Heliogabalus did not end up in one of the Egyptian pyramids. And everyone’s favorite, young Alexander, was proclaimed Roman emperor.

The biography of Heliogabalus, as you can see, really turned out to be very bright, despite the fact that he ruled for only four years. But why, in this case, do historians not like to remember about him? Not enough information? No, such ancient authors as Herodian, Lampridius and Cassius Dio wrote about him. Or maybe the whole point is that the biography of Heliogabalus is very similar to the biography of Emperor Nero? Not just similar, but there is a feeling that they are talking about the same historical character. Simply described by different people from different eras.

Let's start with the fact that Nero descended from the family of Ahenobarbi (literally - copperbeard). According to Suetonius, this is what they called him in childhood. Ahenobarbus and Heliogabalus are names, although different, but not so different as to declare their complete dissimilarity. The correct name of Heliogabalus is Elagabalus, but thanks to the Greeks his name became Heliogabalus, since the word for “sun” in Greek is helios. I think that Suetonius had another option for interpreting the name of the emperor, associated with the word “agenobarbus”, i.e. “copperbeard”. And as a consequence of this, Suetonius mentions many red-bearded relatives of Nero. The name Agenobarbus is two-part, the second part of this name is identical to the generic name of Heliogabalus - Varius. Compare: BARB and VARI, while the letters - b- and - v- transform into each other.

Both future emperors lost their fathers in childhood. Nero's mother was sent into exile under Caligula. A similar event occurred with the Heliogabalus family after the assassination of Emperor Caracalla.

Under Nero, “every day they threw all kinds of gifts at the people - a thousand different birds a day, food of any kind, tesserae for grain, clothing, gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, paintings, slaves, cattle, even tame animals.” Tesserae are balls on which it was written what the owner receives. That is, in essence, these are winning tickets.

But about the reign of Heliogabalus: “Having assumed the post of consul, he threw to the people for theft not money, not silver and gold coins, not delicacies, not small animals, but fattened bulls, camels, donkeys, deer, repeating that this is - imperially." That is, at first he did without giving away money, but then: “as table gifts, he gave eunuchs to the guests, gave four horses, horses with blankets, mules, closed stretchers, road carts; He gave both a thousand gold and a hundred pounds of silver.”

His winning tickets were in the form of lots written on spoons: “The lots at his feasts were written on spoons in such a way that one got ten camels, and the other got ten flies; to one ten pounds of gold, and to another ten pounds of lead; one - ten ostriches, and the other - ten chicken eggs. He did this in such a way that, indeed, lots were created that tested fate. He did this at his games, so that the lots included ten bears, and ten dormice, and ten stalks of lettuce, and ten pounds of gold. He was the first to introduce the custom of this kind of lots, which we see now. He, indeed, invited actors to participate in such drawings, and the winnings included dead dogs, a pound of beef, and then a hundred gold coins, a thousand silver coins, a hundred copper follies, and the like.” But, as we see, the custom of distributing lots was first introduced not by Heliogabalus, but by Nero, who distributed lots in the form of tesserae.

Nero showed a "sea battle with sea animals in salt water." And Heliogabalus “set up swimming pools with sea water, far from the sea, emptied them while some of his friends were swimming in them, and filled them again with water with fish.”

At the circus races, Nero “brought out chariots drawn by four camels,” and Heliogabalus, who “harnessed four camels to a chariot when he staged a spectacle at the circus,” was not far behind him.

Both emperors showed themselves to be artistic people. Nero studied music as a child, and when he became emperor, he often performed on stage. Heliogabalus “sang, danced, read to the sound of the flute, played the trumpet, practiced the pandura, and knew how to play the organ.”

Nero “put on false hair or a felt cap and went to loiter in taverns or wander through alleys,” and Heliogabalus “throwing on himself, so as not to be recognized, a cape with a hood, such as mule drivers wear, went around all the harlots of the circus, theater, amphitheater and all other places in Rome."

If Nero raped the Vestal Rubria, then Heliogabalus, according to Lampridius, “allowed himself to dishonor the Vestal Virgin,” this historian did not name her, but Dion and Herodian clarified the situation, calling her Julia Severa Augusta. Heliogabalus married her in 221, then drove her away, but then took her as his wife again.

Both emperors spent incredible amounts of money on a luxurious life. Both Suetonius and Lampridius described their wild fantasies in detail. Suffice it to cite the following fragment about Nero’s insane luxury: “He never wore a single dress twice. He made bets in the game of four hundred thousand sesterces. He caught fish with a gilded net of purple and red ropes. And he traveled with no less than a thousand carts: the mules had silver horseshoes, and the drivers wore Canusian cloth.”

Heliogabalus also “never wore washed linens and called those beggars who used washed linens... He never wore the same shoes twice; they say he didn’t even put on his ring twice; he often tore precious clothes... He had carts decorated with precious stones and lined with gold... Having become emperor, they say he even carried six hundred carts with him.”

The above materials, I think, will be quite enough for the reader to be convinced of the similarity of the description of the reign of these two Roman emperors. Moreover, a comparison of their sexual vices has not yet been made here. You have just read about the licentiousness of Heliogabalus, and similar actions of Nero were discussed a little earlier. Suffice it to recall that Nero took the boy Sporus as his wife, and himself, as a woman, married the freedman Doryphoros.

On the second attempt, Nero poisoned his half-brother, young Britannicus, “whom he feared, since the people might give preference to him.” Heliogabalus tried to poison his adopted son, young Alexander, who was his cousin and also a competitor, but the attempt failed. Here, as you can see, the similarity in the description of the lives of these two emperors turned out to be only partial. The same can be said about the fate of their mothers. Nero killed his mother Agrippina, and Heliogabalus' mother was killed along with him. She played the same role in the reign of Heliogabalus as Agrippina played under Nero.

What can TV say to these facts? Most likely, it will be nothing more than a coincidence. But such a number of coincidences, you see, is very strange. It is more logical to assume that the “ancient” authors described the life and reign of one emperor. In one case he was called Nero, in another Heliogabalus. However, they had a lot of names.

Antonin Heliogabalus on his father's side belonged to the Syrian aristocratic family of Variev and was called Bassian Barius Avitus from birth. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were priests of the Phoenician solar god Ela-Gabala, the patron saint of Emes. On his mother’s side, Bassian was related to the imperial family: his grandmother, Julia Mesa, was the sister of Julia Domna, the wife of the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. But perhaps his connection with the Sever family was even closer and more direct: the mother of the future emperor, Julia Soemia, in her youth had a love affair with Caracalla, and they said that her son was born precisely from the younger Sever, and not from her legal spouse (Lampridius : “Antoninus Heliogabalus”; 1).

In 217, after the murder of Caracalla, Emperor Macrinus ordered Mesa to return to his homeland and settle on his estates. From that time on, Bassian, as the eldest in the Varii family, was entrusted with the administration of the cult of El-Gabala. He was in his prime and was considered the most handsome of all the young men of his time. When Bassian performed sacred acts and danced at the altars to the sounds of flutes and pipes, crowds of people gathered to watch him. Among the onlookers there were also soldiers, since the camp of the Third Gallic Legion was located near Emes. Some soldiers were clients of Mesa and were under her protection. At that time, the Asian legions had already begun to feel burdened by the power of Macrinus and remembered with regret Caracalla, who had always enjoyed the ardent love of the warriors. The rumor that Bassian was the son of Caracalla spread throughout the army. It was also rumored that Mesa had piles of money and that she would willingly give it all to the soldiers if they would help return power to her family. After much discussion among themselves about these subjects, the legionnaires finally agreed to proclaim Bassian emperor. One night, Mesa's clients allowed her into the camp along with her daughters and grandchildren, and the rushing warriors immediately dressed Bassian in a purple cloak and proclaimed him Antonin.

When this was reported to Macrinus in Antioch, he sent troops against the Gallic legion, but they immediately went over to the side of Antoninus. Then Macrinus himself moved to Phenicia and on June 8, 218 met with rebels on its borders. A stubborn battle began, but even before the winner was determined, Macrinus fled. His legions went over to the side of Antonin, and he himself was soon killed (Herodian: 5; 3-4).

The Senate approved the choice of soldiers, and in 219, having finished all affairs in the East, Mesa brought her grandson to Rome. The people greeted the new emperor with the greatest enthusiasm, pinning all their best hopes on him. However, soon his behavior caused general bewilderment, and then indignation. From the very first day, Heliogabalus clearly showed that he intended, as before, to devote himself to serving his god. On the Palatine Hill near the palace, a temple was built for El-Gabala, which from now on was to become the main shrine of Rome. The stucco image of the Mother of the Gods, the fire of Vesta, Palladium, and sacred shields were transferred here, in a word - everything that the Romans deeply honor. Heliogabalus sought to ensure that only one of his gods was worshiped in the capital. He said that the religious rites of the Jews, as well as Christian services, should be transferred here so that the priesthood of El-Gabal would hold in its hands all the secrets of the cults. He called all the other gods the servants of his god: his sleepers and slaves (Lampridius: “Antoninus Heliogabalus”; 3, 7). At the same time, the emperor began to indulge in all sorts of frenzy: he danced with ecstasy around the statue of God, did not recognize Roman clothes, dressed as usual in magnificent barbaric outfits, decorated himself with gilded purple fabrics, necklaces and bracelets, and also blushed and painted his eyes. Every morning he slaughtered and placed on the altars hecatombs of bulls and a huge number of small livestock, heaping various incense and pouring out before the altars many amphorae of very old excellent wine. Then he launched into a stormy dance to the sound of cymbals and timbrels, women and his fellow tribesmen danced with him, and the horsemen and the senate stood around as spectators (Herodian: 5; 5, 8). He did not disdain human sacrifices, slaughtering several noble and beautiful boys in honor of El-Gabal. He forced many to participate in his orgies, which aroused a feeling of disgust and indignation in the Romans: special messengers looked for people with large genitals for the emperor in public baths and brought them to his palace so that he could enjoy communication with them. He later made his lovers, people of the lowest rank, consuls, prefects, governors and military leaders. The praetorian prefect under him was the dancer Eutychian, the prefect of the guard was the charioteer Cordius, and the prefect of supplies was the barber Claudius.

Everything that had been done secretly before, Heliogabal began to do openly, in front of many people. He showed intimate signs of attention to his lovers in public: for example, he always kissed his favorite Hierocles on the groin when they met. He himself, they say, did not have a body cavity that did not serve for lust, and was proud of the fact that he was able to add several new ones to the countless types of debauchery of previous emperors. Sometimes he appeared at feasts naked in a chariot drawn by naked harlots, whom he drove with a whip. And his feasts were often arranged in such a way that after each change of dishes he was supposed to have intercourse with women. In the bathhouse, he usually also washed with women and rubbed them with ointment to remove hair (Lampridius: “Antoninus Heliogabalus”; 5, 6, 10-12, 29-31, 33). In 221, he declared a Vestal virgin his wife, although according to sacred laws she was supposed to remain virgin for the rest of her life. This was already his second wife, and he did the same with her as with the first - he sent her away after a short time in order to marry a third (Herodian: 5; 6). However, his marriage with her did not last long. In the end, Heliogabalus married as a woman his lover Zotik, who enjoyed enormous influence throughout his reign.

The emperor's luxury and extravagance reached such extremes that he never once in his life wore the same clothes or even the same jewelry twice. And some claim that he never washed twice in the same bathhouse, ordering after washing to break them down and build new ones. He defecated only in golden vessels, bathed exclusively in ponds filled with fragrant ointments or saffron essence, and to warm his apartments he ordered the burning of Indian incense without coals. Heliogabalus surpassed even Vitellius in the luxury of his feasts. More than once he served peas with golden balls, beans with amber, rice with white pearls, and instead of pepper, fish were sprinkled with pearls and truffles. He ordered dogs to be fed with goose livers, and Anamean grapes to be poured into the horses’ mangers (Lampridius: “Antoninus Heliogabalus”; 10:29-33).

Seeing all this and suspecting that the soldiers did not like such a life for the sovereign, Mesa convinced Heliogabalus to declare Alexian, her other grandson from her second daughter Mamaea, Caesar and co-ruler. In 221 Heliogabalus adopted his cousin under the name Alexander. Soon, however, he repented of this, because all the nobles and warriors turned their thoughts to Alexander and began to place their best hopes on this boy, who was brought up beautifully and wisely. Heliogabalus tried to take away the title of Caesar from Alexander. But, having learned about this, the soldiers were indignant, and Heliogabalus, overcome with fear, took Alexander in his stretcher and went with him to the praetorian camp. He obviously wanted to reconcile with the army, however, when he saw with what enthusiasm the legionnaires greeted his co-ruler, he flared up again. He ordered to seize those who greeted Alexander especially ardently and punish them as the instigators of the rebellion. The soldiers, outraged by this order, attacked

against the emperor, they killed him and his mother. They allowed their bodies to be dragged and dishonored by anyone who wanted to; After that, they were dragged throughout the city for a long time, and then, mutilated, they were thrown into sewage water flowing into the Tiber. Alexander was proclaimed emperor (Herodian: 5; 7,8).

Heliogabalus (Heliogabalus) - Marcus Aurelius Antony, Roman emperor (218-222), worshiper of the Sun god. He organized endless celebrations and services in Rome, accompanied by wild, savage rituals and extravagance. Aroused universal contempt and hatred. Killed by conspirators (History of Ancient Rome / Edited by A. G. Bokshanin and V. I. Kuzishchin. M., 1971. P. 405).

Heliogabalus, Marcus Aurelius Antonia Bassian - Roman emperor in 218-222. Genus. in 204 + March 11, 222

The Senate approved the choice of soldiers, and in 219, having finished all affairs in the East, Mesa brought her grandson to Rome. The people greeted the new emperor with the greatest enthusiasm, pinning all their best hopes on him. However, soon his behavior caused general bewilderment, and then indignation. From the very first day, Heliogabalus clearly showed that he intended, as before, to devote himself to serving his god. On the Palatine Hill near the palace, a temple was built for El-Gabala, which from now on was to become the main shrine of Rome. The stucco image of the Mother of the Gods, the fire of Vesta, the Palladium, and sacred shields were transferred here, in a word - everything that the Romans deeply honor. Heliogabalus sought to ensure that only one of his gods was worshiped in the capital. He said that the religious rites of the Jews, as well as Christian services, should be transferred here so that the priesthood of El-Gabal would hold in its hands all the secrets of the cults. He called all the other gods the servants of his god: his sleepers and slaves (Lampridius: “Antoninus Heliogabalus”; 3, 7). At the same time, the emperor began to indulge in all sorts of frenzy: he danced with ecstasy around the statue of God, did not recognize Roman clothes, dressed as usual in magnificent barbaric outfits, decorated himself with gilded purple fabrics, necklaces and bracelets, and also blushed and painted his eyes. Every morning he slaughtered and placed on the altars hecatombs of bulls and a huge number of small livestock, heaping various incense and pouring out before the altars many amphorae of very old excellent wine. Then he launched into a stormy dance to the sound of cymbals and timbrels, women and his fellow tribesmen danced with him, and the horsemen and the senate stood around as spectators (Herodian: 5; 5, 8). He did not disdain human sacrifices, slaughtering several noble and beautiful boys in honor of El-Gabal. He forced many to participate in his orgies, which aroused a feeling of disgust and indignation in the Romans: special messengers looked for people with large genitals for the emperor in public baths and brought them to his palace so that he could enjoy communication with them. He later made his lovers, people of the lowest rank, consuls, prefects, governors and military leaders. The praetorian prefect under him was the dancer Eutychian, the prefect of the guard was the charioteer Cordius, and the prefect of supplies was the barber Claudius.

The book itself was written by Lampridius, one of the historians of the later times of the Roman Empire. In the book, Lampridius often “addresses” the Emperor Constantine, therefore we can assume that he lived during the reign of Constantine (306-337 centuries AD).

Let's return to Heliogabalus, who was from the Severan dynasty, and at birth bore the name Bassian Varius Avit.

How Heliogabalus managed to become emperor is a separate topic, but I personally was most interested in something else - with what brains did the Roman people and army tolerate such a monster for so long???

So much time - in the case of Heliogabalus it is 4 years. The brat was first proclaimed emperor at the age of 14 (!!!) and remained on the throne until he was 18. How he managed it, I don’t know.

Lampridius in the book sometimes quite freely describes what Heliogabalus was like, and if you believe at least half of what the ancient historian poured out there, then your hair just stands on end.

The young cretin emperor not only humiliated and belittled the Senate of Rome, but also dealt a good blow to the official Roman religion when he introduced the cult of the Syrian solar god into the empire.

To say that Heliogabalus was insane and terribly depraved is an understatement.

He slept with both women and men. He forced his associates and guards to rape him. He loved to organize magnificent spectacles, bloody battles, where hundreds of warriors, gladiators and animals died. Heliogabalus sacrificed innocent people and executed them for the slightest offense.

Lampridius writes: “In Rome he had only one occupation: he had messengers with him who looked for people with large genitals for him and brought them to his palace so that he could enjoy communication with them.”

Next, I will also give several excerpts from the book (written by Lampridius), so that it is better clear what the Roman Emperor was doing and amusing himself...who was not even 18 years old...

“In his palace, he acted out a play about Paris, himself playing the role of Venus, and his clothes suddenly fell to his feet, and he himself, naked, holding one hand to his chest, with the other covering the private parts of his body, knelt down, exposing his butt , pushing it out and exposing it to his lover.”

“He saw the main meaning of life in being worthy and able to satisfy the lust of as many people as possible.”

“He sold honorary positions, titles and powers. He recruited people to the Senate, without regard to their age, qualifications, or origin, but only for the money he received from them. He also sold military command posts - places of tribunes, legates, military commanders, as well as the procuratorate and places in the palace departments."

“He called all the gods the servants of his god: some he called his sleeping bags, others - slaves, others - serving one or another of his needs.”

“Heliogabalus also made human sacrifices, choosing for this throughout Italy noble and beautiful boys whose father and mother were alive - I think in order to intensify the grief of both parents.”

“He established public baths in the palace building and opened the baths of Plaucianus to the people, so that thanks to this he would be able to recruit people with large genitals for his pleasures.”

“He sometimes showed such contempt towards senators that he called them slaves dressed in togas; He called the Roman people fit only for cultivating the land, and did not regard the equestrian class as anything.”

“They say that he - with the help of the priests of the Mars tribe - collected snakes and even before dawn, when people usually gather for numerous games, he suddenly released them, so that many people suffered from bites and during their flight.”

“Often he locked up his drunken friends and at night suddenly let in tamed lions, leopards, bears, so that, waking up at dawn or, what was even worse, at night, they found lions, bears, leopards in the same room; many gave up the ghost because of this.”

“When in a private conversation it came up about how many people there might be in Rome suffering from hernia, he ordered them all to be registered and brought to his baths and washed with them - and among them there were respected people.”

“He treated his hangers-on to dinners made of glass, and sometimes sent them to their table as many tablecloths decorated with embroidery with images of all the types of food served on the table, no matter how many changes of dishes he had, and all this was either embroidered with a needle or woven in the form of drawings . Sometimes pictures were placed in front of them, so that they seemed to be given everything, but in fact they experienced pangs of hunger.”

“He, as they say, said: “If I have an heir, then I will give him a guardian who will force him to do what I did and will do.”

“He came up with some new types of debauchery, so that he surpassed the favorites of the previous emperors and knew well the tricks of Tiberius, Caligula and Nero.”

“The Syrian priests predicted to him that he would die a violent death. Therefore, he prepared ropes in advance, twisted from silk and crimson and scarlet material, so that - if necessary - he would end his life by hanging himself in a noose. He also prepared golden swords so that he could stab himself with them if any force forced him to do so.”

Heliogabalus roses. Heliogabalus: the most depraved Roman emperor The reign of the 14-year-old Heliogabalus in Rome

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